Batsman box for a baseball diamond

ABSTRACT

A batsman box surface made of hard automobile tire-like black rubber in official sizes is placed flush with the playing surface and staked in place. White foul lines are molded or added to the surface. The whole surface fits into the regulation 26 foot dirt circle when placed in alignment with the baseball field diamond boundaries. The batsman box comprises a pair of spaced apart generally oblong plate portions connected by a catchers plate located generally behind and between the batsman plates, all of the plates being located in a horizontal plane when placed for use on a conventional baseball diamond.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,13,697

Darby May 28, 1974 BATSMAN BOX FOR A BASEBALL Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham DIAMOND Assistant ExaminerTheatrice Brown Attorney, Agent, or FirmLeonard L. Kalish [5 7] ABSTRACT A batsman box surface made of hard automobile tirelike black rubber in official sizes is placed flush with the playing surface and staked in place. White foul lines are molded or added to the surface. The whole surface fits into the regulation 26 foot dirt circle when placed in alignment with the baseball field diamond boundaries. The batsman bo t comprises a pair of spaced apart generally oblong plate portions connected by a catchers plate located generally behind and between the batsman plates, all of the plates being located in a horizontal plane when placed for use on a conventional baseball diamond.

9 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure l BATSMAN BOX FOR A BASEBALL DIAMOND This invention relates to the game of baseball, more particularly to accessories for the baseball field.

A principal object of this invention is to provide a sturdy, sure grip, non-slip, durable, power-packing and safer condition for all baseball and soft-ball players which will make for a much needed speedier, safer and better game. A rubber pad having a tread surface surrounds home plate so that there are standing areas for a left handed or right handed batter and an area behind home plate for the cather. The surface is secured in place with stakes. Interrupted chalk foul lines are replaced by white lines on the surface.

Another object of this invention is to provide a surface of the type described that is simple to install or remove, is cheap in manufacture and therefore should have a wide market appeal.

These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of the following specification and the accompanying drawing.

" The surface 10, according to the invention, is made of a hard automobile tire-like black rubber with cords and wire reinforcement. In accordance with official major league baseball layouts, the surface shows three areas, namely, an area 11 for a right handed batter, an area 12 for a left handed batter and an area 13 for the cathers box. The surface is given a non-slip treatment as indicated at 14. For ruggedness, surface ismade of rubber two inches thick.

-Both as an aid in proper placement with relation to home plate 17 and as a replacement for chalk lines from first and third that may be covered, a pair of white stripes 15 are either molded into the surface using white rubber or the like or are painted on the surface. Playing surface 10 may then be placed correct on the play area with respect to the foul lines. The sand within the official 26 foot circle is removed in the area surface 10 so that tread 14 is flush with the surrounding area 16.

As the FIGURE shows, surface 10 is centered around home plate 17 and lines 15 are in line with first base foul line 18 and third base foul line 19. To secure surface 10 in place so that it will not shift, holes 20 are provided for stakes 21 which, driven in, will have their heads flush or below tread surface 14. Heretofore, from sand lots to the major leagues, softball and baseball players have batted and caught the pitched ball on the naked and often battered ground, causing players to slip and injure themselves particularly in trying to avoid being hit by a pitch or after a strong swing. Players waste time stomping and digging their personalized trenches in the ground which gets deeper and rougher as more players dig in their cleats. The catcher hasoften fallen down trying to get a swift start after a foul ball or when he is trying to rush a throw to second base and get a runner out. The present invention, as described, seeks to eliminate these and many other existing faults in the game of baseball.

What 1 claim is:

l. A batsman box plate of substantial thickness formed of slightly resilient and substantially formretaining material, said batsman box plate including two spaced-apart and generally parallel oblong batsman-plate-portions having generally unobstructed planar upper surfaces and arranged to flank the homebase-plate in laterally spaced relation thereto when placed for use on a conventional baseball diamond, and including a catcher-plate-portion located generally between and behind and connecting said batsman-plate- .portions and having a generally unobstrusted planar upper surface, said batsman box plate being adapted to be recessed into the ground and staked thereto with its unobstructed planar upper surfaces generally flush with the adjacent ground-surface.

2. A batsman box according to claim 1, including contrasting foul-lines on said batsman-plate-portions.

3. A batsman box according to claim 1, including stake-receiving holes extending through said plateportions.

4. A batsman box according to claim 1, having an anti-slip upper surface.

5. A batsman box according to claim 1, including reinforcing means embedded therin.

6. A batsman box including two generally parallel oblong batsman-plates of substantial thickness, formed of a slightly resilient and generally form-retaining material and having generally unobstructed planar upper surfaces, one of said batsman-plates being on each of the two opposite sides of the home-base-plate and laterally spaced therefrom, said two batsman-plates being generally parallel with and being laterally spaced equidistantly from the center-line between the home-baseplate and the pitchers mound when said batsman box is placed in position on a conventional baseball diamond, and a catcher-plate of substantial thickness behind the two batsman-plates formed of a slightly resilient and generally form-retaining material and having a generally unobstructed planar upper surface and being generally centered on the aforementioned center-line, said batsman-plates and said catcher-plate being recessed into the ground with the upper surfaces thereof generally flush with the adjacent groundsurface, and stake-receiving holes in said batsmanplates and in said catcher-plate, and stakes extending through said holes into the ground.

7. A batsman box according to claim 6, including contrasting foul-lines on said batsman-plate portions.

8. A batsman box according to claim 6, having an anti-slip upper surface.

9. A batsman box according to claim 6, including reinforcing means embedded therein. 

1. A batsman box plate of substantial thickness formed of slightly resilient and substantially form-retaining material, said batsman box plate including two spaced-apart and generally parallel oblong batsman-plate-portions having generally unobstructed planar upper surfaces and arranged to flank the home-base-plate in laterally spaced relation thereto when placed for use on a conventional baseball diamond, and including a catcher-plate-portion located generally between and behind and connecting said batsman-plate-portions and having a generally unobstrusted planar upper surface, said batsman box plate being adapted to be recessed into the ground and staked thereto with its unobstructed planar upper surfaces generally flush with the adjacent ground-surface.
 2. A batsman box according to claim 1, including contrasting foul-lines on said batsman-plate-portions.
 3. A batsman box according to claim 1, including stake-receiving holes extending through said plate-portions.
 4. A batsman box according to claim 1, having an anti-slip upper surface.
 5. A batsman box according to claim 1, including reinforcing means embedded therin.
 6. A batsman box including two generally parallel oblong batsman-plates of substantial thickness, formed of a slightly resilient and generally form-retaining material and having generally unobstructed planar upper surfaces, one of said batsman-plates being on each of the two opposite sides of the home-base-plate and laterally spaced therefrom, said two batsman-plates being generally parallel with and being laterally spaced equidistantly from the center-line between the home-base-plate and the pitcher''s mound when said batsman box is placed in position on a conventional baseball diamond, and a catcher-plate of substantial thickness behind the two batsman-plates formed of a slightly resilient and generally form-retaining material and having a generally unobstructed planar upper surface and being generally centered on the aforementioned center-line, said batsman-plates and said catcher-plate being recessed into the ground with the upper surfaces thereof generally flush with the adjacent ground-surface, and stake-receiving holes in said batsman-plates and in said catcher-plate, and stakes extending through said holes into the ground.
 7. A batsman box according to claim 6, including contrasting foul-lines on said batsman-plate portions.
 8. A batsman box according to claim 6, having an anti-slip upper surface.
 9. A batsman box according to claim 6, including reinforcing means embedded therein. 